President s Message It s the middle of July and a Polar Vortex

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1 The Alliance Quarterly gcpma.com 2014 Fall Edition G C P M A O F F I C E R S Don Kaufman PRESIDENT Gary Pietrucha INTERIM VICE PRESIDENT Jane Peifer SECRETARY Kevin Connelly TREASURER Kevin McClernon SERGEANT AT ARMS G C P M A B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S : Jeff Beallis PAST PRESIDENT Dan Kaminski Billy Longmire Sara McGuire Bryan Nichols Kurt Spurgeon Dave Tumminello S E M I N A R I N F O Gary Pietrucha, GCPMA.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Production: Stellar Graphics Design: Danielgraphics Editor: Kevin McClernon gcpma.com The Alliance Quarterly President s Message It s the middle of July and a Polar Vortex just came through, so much for Global Warming! I hope and trust all of our members are having a successful season. The one thing I have learned over the years is that there s enough business for all of us. We are truly one of the few industries that can succeed during harsh economic times. The greatest advantage to be part of the GCPMA is the camaraderie and advice that we all give each other. It is important that we continue that tradition. The benefits far outweigh the detriments, and by working together, we all succeed. Once again we outdid ourselves with the June 24 recertification and Above and Beyond meeting. We had 150 participants for the seminar, and over 80 attendees for Above and Beyond event! It is truly impressive. I am hearing from many other companies and organizations outside our state that we continue to set the standard, and then some, on having a successful Alliance. As a group, we continue to put forth not only informative educational events, but entertaining ones as well. I cannot thank Sara McGuire, Gary Pietrucha and Jim Parker enough for their effort and passion. I believe the main reason we are so successful is the time and energy they give to find the right speakers and the right topics. I am looking forward to the Meeting of the Minds on October 28. We have a great lineup and besides the credit hours that you get, you ll also have a great educational experience. Please go to our website and register if you haven t done so already. In addition, we are always looking for new members to step up and be part of a committee, and eventually serve on the board of directors and as officers. I have been part of it for many years and it is one of the most rewarding experiences in my life. Many of you worry that you are so busy with work that you don t have the time to help. Every single member of the board and officers have succeeded greatly as a PMP and they still have time to serve. It does not take as much time as you think and I truly believe that part of the success of our board members is the benefits that they receive from their position. I now also count every board member and fellow officers as good friends. Please consider becoming an integral part of our great organization. If you re interested contact any member of the board. I guarantee it will be one of the best moves of your career. Wishing everyone a fantastic summer. Don Kaufman DON KAUFMAN GCPMA PRESIDENT AND ORKIN COMMERCIAL SERVICES Ordinances in Illinois Can Other Communities Adopt Chicago s? By Gary Pietrucha, President, Envirosafe Pest Management State of Illinois Governors Advisory Counsel It has been approximately 7 months since the implementation of the Chicago Bed Bug Ordinance. So far, there have been few contentious issues that we know of, but we are not privy to all of the legal aspects that this ordinance has generated. Continued on page 2 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Entomologist s Corner Meeting of the Minds VIII The Wild Life On-Line Marketing $2.5 Million Bed Bug Settlement Them Biting Gnats! Member Directory Fall Edition GCPMA

2 Ordinances in Illinois Continued from front page We know that there has been several citations issued to landlords, but pest control professionals have not been brought into the court system to the best of our knowledge. During a couple of meetings with the CDPH, it has been determined that the Chicago Ordinance is not well written and could be improved upon. We must do our best to comply at least for the time being. Of greater concern is the possibility of suburban jurisdictions adopting the Chicago Ordinance, and applying it as their bed bug policy. This appears to be happening already. On a positive note, it looks like the bill introduced to allow home rule for various suburbs in Cook County will not pass in Springfield. This would have meant that if you performed work in a suburb in Cook County and the particular suburb adopted Home Rule, they would be able to tell you what you could use for pest management and could determine how you were to perform pest control at any level, including treatments such as bed bug and termite services. The Illinois Bed Bug Ordinance appears to be buried in legislature for a good long while, which is depressing given the fact that we have put so much effort into it. Compared to Chicago s Ordinance, which had absolutely no input from the pest control industry during its creation, the Illinois Ordinance is very considerate of both Landlords and Tenants, and gives the Pest Management Professional the tools needed to give more options to their Entomologist s Corner respective customers. You can download both ordinances off of the internet for comparison purposes and judge for yourself. Remember, the most important aspect of the Chicago Ordinance is documentation. If you do not keep accurate records of every aspect of your treatment, all phone records, all meetings, and all incidents surrounding the project, you could be in for a long litigious procedure that will make you wish you never performed bed bug work in the first place. On a lighter note, we now have official re-writes on General Core, Bird, Insect and Rodent, Termite and Restricted Use Exams for Illinois. This is a major accomplishment that we owe a lot to Dr. Curt Colwell for. Also, my contributing partner Chris Haggerty from American Pest Control and Michael Boyle from the Grundy County Health Department helped me with many hours of reading, analyzing, and selecting the best of 3 examples for each category of testing. It was rewarding to have GCPMA represented at each of the rewrites as a standing testimony to our increased recognition as a powerful organization in this State. We are recognized nationally as one of the most successful and best run urban organizations in our industry. We will keep a watchful eye on the progress of ordinances throughout the State and if any serious issues arise, we will inform our contingency of what needs to be done. As always, I thank you for your support and hope that GCPMA can attract some new members that are willing to take over the duties that have got us to this point. You will find that the rewards are immeasurable. Sara McGuire, BCE- Smithereen Pest Management GCPMA Education Committee Chair Afew years ago we were braced for a new pest to sweep across our land and provide new business opportunities. The dreaded Brown Marmorated Stink Bug was moving across the country like a plague. We called our customers and rang the alarm bells, we Paul Revered the country side yelling the stink bugs are coming, the stink bugs are coming. We waited and waited and the plague never came. Last year my boss went down to Danville, Illinois and was told that the town was inundated by these brown bugs but still nothing in Chicago. Although we still do not have the epidemic we anticipated I am projecting that NEXT year we will see these buggers in huge numbers. I found one at my house just this season. Where there is one, there are hundreds right? Who hasn t heard a customer make a similar claim? Well even though we didn t the scourge this year I don t think it is that far away and it s never too soon to plan for the inevitable. The facts; this is a true bug in the Pentatomidae family and is an agricultural pest in many parts of Asia. On the East coast this pest has been introduced and is a serious headache for farmers of fruits, veggies, and other crops as it is voracious eater. More relevant to us, it also a structural pest as it is attracted to structures in search of protected overwintering sites, a typical behavior of many of our non-native fall invaders. It has the same body shape as our native stink bugs but to distinguish look for a striped banding on the antennae and the outer edge of abdomen. Since it is a true bug it goes through incomplete metamorphosis and has five nymph stages similar to the bed bug. Most likely in Chicagoland we would have one generation but it has been noticed in warmer native climates it is known to have multiple generation per year. The issue is that in the fall the adults start searching for overwintering sites and will enter structures under siding, into soffits, around window and door frames, chimneys, or any space that has an opening. They will start hibernating once inside and in when it warms up will re-animate and try to make their way out, flying clumsily around light fixtures. Physically keeping them out with exclusion is the way to go, as with most of our fall invaders. Some relief can be had with insecticide application but again habitat alteration is the long term solution. Remember squashing these bugs will produce a serious and literal STINK so find alternative physical measure for removal. Let GCPMA if you are starting to see an increase in these pests so we can send out the alarm call. 2 GCPMA 2014 Fall Edition The Alliance Quarterly gcpma.com

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5 Meeting of the Minds VIII By Jim Anderson, Advanced Exterminator As I write this our GCPMA Education Committee, headed by Sara McGuire, is busy getting ready for the eighth annual Meeting of the Minds conference on October 28, 2014, in Tinley Park, Illinois. An event of this size requires a lot of planning and preparation. As Sara says, There are a lot of moving parts to put in place. Then on the day of the event it is the hard work of the GCPMA Board members and other volunteers that is essential to make it all work. We are expecting a large turnout this year, and it is an exciting challenge for us to make this event worthwhile for all in our industry who attend. Over the last few years, the continual emergence of bed bugs has been a big focus of our program with various experts sharing their research and experience with that pest. This year in addition to Ed Vargo from the University of North Carolina, who will bring us up-to-date on the dispersal and spread of bed bugs and genetic study results, we also have three other excellent speakers with different relevant industry topics. Bobby Corrigan returns to our conference to show us the very best placements for rodent traps and stations. Dan Suiter from the University of Georgia joins us to share the latest information on ant management. Erin Monteagudo from Univar provides inspection tips for finding flies and roaches. These four experts provide a well-rounded program that we hope will produce a lot of take-home points for use in the field. On October 27, 2014, we are sponsoring an IDPH certification exam and in addition to the Meeting of the Minds VIII program, our exhibit hall will again be filled with suppliers and manufacturers providing information on the latest products and tools as well as other industry service providers. They are always happy to answer questions and offer specific solutions. Our Alliance was formed in 2004 to provide support and education for pest management owners and employees in the Chicago area. In addition to the six-hour Meeting of the Minds conference in October, we provide three-hour seminars in March and June, as well as our Above and Beyond afternoon session for owners and managers after the June seminar each year. These seminars and conferences provide needed training credit hours for those who are certified in Illinois and Indiana, but they also are designed to be very valuable for new, uncertified employees or for those who don t need the credit hours but can make use of the information. In order to keep our training relevant and useful we need your help. At each meeting we ask attendees to fill out a survey to give us feedback on how we are doing and how we can do better. We pay very close attention to those responses and use that information to make improvements. Please visit our GCPMA.com website for information about the IDPH exam or to register for Meeting of the Minds VIII. You can also complete the registration form at the back of this issue and mail it with your check to the address on the form. We look forward to seeing all of you at Meeting of the Minds VIII. gcpma.com The Alliance Quarterly 2014 Fall Edition GCPMA 5

6 The Wild Life Beaver JANE PEIFER, AMPEST EXTERMINATING & WILDLIFE CONTROL & GCPMA SECRETARY The beaver is the largest North American rodent, averaging between 40 and 65 pounds. It is easily identified on land by its flat tail, reddish-brown fur coat, and large front teeth. The hind legs are longer than the front legs, and there are five clawed toes on each foot. The hind feet are webbed to help the beaver maneuver through water. Beavers have small eyes and ears, and their nose has valves that close when under water. They have a set of transparent eyelids that function much like goggles. The large orange-red incisors allow the beaver to chew through wood. Beavers can swim at speeds up to five miles an hour and can remain underwater for 15 minutes without surfacing. Their fur is naturally oily and waterproof. Because of its valuable fur, the beaver played an important role in the settlement of North America. American Indians exchanged the fur at trading posts for a variety of goods including tools, weapons, blankets, cooking pots and glass beads. In fact, Chicago was a busy fur trading post in the early 1800s. So popular were the beavers flesh, fur and leathery tail that the animal s numbers steadily dwindled from the 1850s until the turn of the century. It became nearly extinct in Illinois in the early 1900s. From 1929 to 1936, attempts were made to reintroduce the beaver in Illinois and made a nearly complete recovery by the 1940 s. The beaver is well adapted to aquatic environments. Dam building is an important element in the beaver s survival. Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges (homes). Lodges provide shelter and a place for raising young. They are often strategically located in the middle of ponds and can only be reached by underwater entrances. Dams are constructed of branches cut by the beaver and stabilized with rocks and mud. A dammed stream becomes a pond providing water for drinking, a travel route and a home site. Beavers live in colonies. Each colony is made up of one family unit. Each family consists of a lifelong mated pair, two to four kits from the previous spring litter, and two or three yearlings. Usually at two years of age, the beaver offspring leave the colony and seek their own home site, thereby spreading the beaver population along waterways and re-colonizing vacant habitat. Large colonies may contain as many as twelve beaver. Beavers have an average lifespan of 7 to 10 years. Most active after sundown, beavers are strict vegetarians and will eat tender twigs, roots of aquatic plants, marsh grasses and corn. Favorite tree 6 GCPMA 2014 Fall Edition The Alliance Quarterly gcpma.com

7 barks include cottonwood, willow, aspen, birch and poplar. Beavers store their winter food supply under water, anchoring large groups of branches and twigs into muddy pond bottoms around their lodges. The marks made by the beaver s sharp, front teeth can be seen as smooth cuts in the wood. Most of the damage associated with beavers is caused by the cutting and girdling (chewing the bark all the way around) of trees. Once a tree is cut down, beavers will eventually gnaw it into portable pieces, eat the bark from the trunk and branches, and move branches to the nearby waterway. Though beavers may enhance habitat for themselves and other wildlife, their activities also pose a potential nuisance for humans. Beaver can cause quite a bit of damage to property, including cutting down valuable trees, damaging corn fields, damming drainage ditches, and causing flooding. Although considered destructive, this behavior plays an incredibly important role in proper ecosystem functioning. By controlling water levels, beavers inadvertently create wetlands and other habitats. Besides providing themselves with a home, beavers create habitats for fish, other mammals, reptiles and amphibians, waterfowl and shorebirds. Beaver colonies and their dams should be tolerated wherever possible. Take our winter wildlife quiz in the next issue! gcpma.com The Alliance Quarterly 2014 Fall Edition GCPMA 7

8 On-Line Marketing for Local Pest Control Companies By Daniel Lillian, Designer/Consultant, Danielgraphics of Evanston, IL Reflecting most of the best and worst aspects of the world s culture and commerce, the Internet is mind-boggling in its immensity. It s almost as big as the promises made about it by enterprising salesmen. Indeed, the World Wide Web and the rise of social media opens new territory for marketing full of opportunities, but rife with pitfalls. It would be easy for a small business to blow its budget without ever reaching the prospects they re after. As a local business owner or operator of a local franchise, understanding your on-line marketing options, their pros-andcons and relative costs, is an important first step. YOU VE GOT MAIL! Years before the Mosaic web-browser was invented here in Illinois at the U of I s National Center for Supercomputing Applications, businesses were realizing the potential of marketing. If you have a list of your existing customers addresses, you should be creating and sending several times a year, to help keep your business top-of-mind in case a service need arises. (And if you don t have an list, it s time to start.) Once your list is ready, I suggesting trying a service like ConstantContact.com, which offers very robust tools for formatting and sending beautifully graphical blast s, and tracking response to campaigns. You can include details about seasonal specials, offer coupons, and include informational tips to keep your customers interested. Their free trial is perfectly usable to get started, and the basic package isn t too expensive. Considering the lack of postage fees, it s easy to see how even a tiny response rate equals a huge return-on-investment, when it comes to marketing. THE BANNER AGE Once upon a time, as recently as a decade ago, the banner ad was pretty much the only choice for on-line marketers. These colorful tiles, often animated with motion effects, adorn many a webpage. Some poorer-quality websites focus on creating small amounts of broadly desirable content (e.g. Top 10 Hottest Celeb Photos! ), broken into many pages. What little they offer couched within layer-after-layer of assorted, unrelated ads. Banner ads like these are distributed by large companies, and their affiliates, as well as by free banner exchange organizations. They aggregate and distribute ads across a variety of websites. Widely distributed ads may work as part of a national campaign, but this shotgun approach to advertising is useless for a business catering to a local or regional area. The vast majority of those who will view the ad are too far away to be prospective customers. You wouldn t directmail the whole U.S.A. regarding your Chicagoland business, so don t go with mass-market banner ad services, and skip the world-wide banner exchanges. They will clutter your site with ads of questionable provenance, and provide little in return. A banner ad placed with a specific local or regional media outlet, on the other hand, can be quite useful in contacting prospects in your service area. Think, The Chicago Reader, Red Eye digital edition and/or your local Pioneer Press publication(s) and Patch websites. Suburban publications offer happier hunting grounds, as the number of single-family homes is greater. Rates vary widely by community, and your mileage may vary. On the downside, many web users have become jaded to banner ads regardless of the venue in which they appear, and studiously avoid clicking them. These users have moved past passively surfing the web, in favor of angling for information more proactively on their own. SEARCHING FOR THE RIGHT PATH As the World Wide Web grew to be so vast, enterprising nerds developed tools to help everyday people more easily find what they re after. This precipitated the popularity of curated indexes of popular websites, like Yahoo! Subsequently, various search engines like the nowdefunct Alta Vista became more popular. These free services allow users to search a database of all known websites, with results ranked based on the sites popularity and relevance to the keywords searched for. Today, Google is by far the most popular of these services, so much so that people use the verb to google to mean, to search the web. To be fair, Bing is also widely used, both due to its usefulness and (more so) the sheer reach and large bankroll of its parent Microsoft. Fortunately for most of us who market on-line, the basic approach to maximizing the benefits derived from these search giants is similar. As with many things in life, there are two paths you can go down when it comes to dealing with Google and Bing to pay or not-to-pay. I call these two roads, respectively, the Way of the Paid Advertiser, and the path of the On-line Marketing Guerilla (OMG). Fortunately, you can go down both roads, to some extent, based on your company needs and budget, and how much time you and your employees can invest in the process. YOU TAKE THE HIGH ROAD If you pay a pretty penny, search engines will position a prominent link for your company at the top of the results, for those who search for particular keywords or phrases (e.g. pest control, bed bug removal, etc.). These ads can be targeted based on the general geographic location of the searcher, even when they omit their location as a search term, which makes them quite useful. At first this type of ad was much more successful than a traditional banner ad, because to less savvy users the austere-looking links which are sponsored are not immediately distinguishable from those listings generated purely on search merit alone (such as site popularity or matching search keywords). These ads still have a higher click-through rate than banner ads do in general, but regular users of the web seem to be gradually, increasingly resistant to clicking on this type of ad, too. As with banner ads, your mileage may vary dramatically. As a cautionary note for those willing to pay to experiment with this type of advertising be sure to consider carefully the search terms you re willing to pay for. The clicks you ll get are guaranteed and audited, but whether the clickers are possible new customers is another matter. For example, many people are searching for information about bed-bugs, however, if they aren t searching for extermination, removal, or abatement, and happen to be in your service area, then the chances they might be a prospect are just too low to pay good money for, in this author s opinion. Also, be sure to set a reasonable upward limit on how many hits you ll pay for. You never know when a seemingly random search term might start trending due to some TV show or pop song, and you ve got to set a spending limit, or your budget may be broken by clicks which would never result in real business. (This happened to someone I know, in relation to a popular novelty item he was selling. It turns out over 99% percent of his clicks were people who just wanted to gawk at the photos, but didn t order anything. He d set his limit unrealistically high, and spent half a year s advertising budget in one month.) Another way to quickly drain the coffers by paying for on-line Yellow Pages, Dex listings, and so on. These old-school businesses attempt to add perceived value by building on the legacy of the once-ubiquitous phone book. Sadly, that ship has sailed and sunk already. Yellow Pages listings were useful once, because everyone used the same phone book. Now, people are rarely devoted to using any one yellow pages, and paying to be in all of them just isn t practical. One of the few places I would recommend you consider spending some of your budget on advertising is with Angie s List, a popular subscription-only website containing unbiased consumer reviews of local businesses. This is similar to the idea behind Consumer Reports magazine, but the experts are real, local customers of the businesses in question. As they proudly trumpet to their users, you can t pay to be listed and reviewed on Angie s List. But, unlike the famous magazine mentioned above, Angie s list does accept paid advertising. Their reputation for being above reproach when it comes to user reviews makes their paid ad positions that much more valuable. Another great way to spread the word about your business, and gain new customers at the same time, is by planning a promotion through Groupon, or a similar company that features discounted gift certificates usable at local companies. These special-offer websites are known for offering a great deal which is available only for a short time. They are very popular with consumers, generate considerable word of mouth, and are viewed by many who may not buy, raising your brand awareness in the local market. And, even if the deal you offer is a bit of a loss leader, if your business has a good record for gaining repeat customers, then getting your proverbial foot in the door could be worth the investment. It has always been difficult to prove the value of advertising. The conventional wisdom among business owners has been, I ve got to advertise, because my competition does. More and more, this mode of thinking is looking old-fashioned. The cost of ads must be balanced against an investment in your arsenal as an OMG. BE AN OMG: AN ON-LINE MARKETING GUERILLA! The OMG thinks out of the box, and doesn t try to contest the deep budgets of national advertisers on a level playing field. The OMG spends company resources strategically, wherever the impact is greatest. The OMG is reluctant to throw money into an expensive ad, when more may be gained by a well-considered investment in their on-line presence. No matter how you slice it, the base of your on-line presence should be the ownership of your own website and top-level domain name, like (yourbusinessname.com). Although Facebook pages are currently free (more on that later), it remains unclear how long they will remain that way; and, for that matter, how long Facebook will be popular. Case in point, any business that relied heavily on a now-defunct GeoCities site or a once-popular MySpace page in the past, has spent much effort transferring their materials elsewhere. It s OK to use these services to expand your reach, but you should own your own basic website. Continued page 10 8 GCPMA 2014 Fall Edition The Alliance Quarterly gcpma.com

9 WASP-X HAS FOAMING ACTION THAT HITS THE SPOT WE CONVERTED OUR ENTIRE TEAM FROM WHAT WE WERE USING TO WASP-X AND HAVE BEEN USING IT EVER SINCE. Patrick Boland Technical Director, ScherZinger Termite and Pest Control Wasp-X in Wasp-X To learn more about Wasp-X Wasp & Hornet Spray visit zoecon.com or call gcpma.com The Alliance Quarterly 2014 Fall Edition GCPMA 9

10 On-Line Marketing Continued from page 8 Owning your site means choosing and paying the registration fee on the domain name (e.g. yourcompanyname.com) with an ICANN accredited registrar, which costs less than $20 per year. Next you pay for webhosting with a BBB-rated, reputable web presence provider (as little as $5/month), and set up a website of your own. The best part is, you can keep that domain name forever if you pay the yearly license fee even if you change hosting services. This is like having a custom vanity address for your business, which moves with you for life, at little cost. Anyone remember MySpace? When Facebook is ultimately superseded, your on-line world won t have been based on a proverbial house of cards. It s OK to start slow, and build on your site gradually. But you should get started thinking about this, if you haven t already. Toward that end, you (as a small business owner) must decide whether you fit one of three categories, namely: [a] you are seriously the tech-savvy DIY type, or [b] you have an employee who can handle the job, or [c] you need to hire help to really get the job done right. If you are so-inclined and patient, and don t set the bar too high, you and your employees can design and promote your own website. Just look at a service like SquareSpace.com for an idea of what you can accomplish on your own these days. On the other hand, if you re already busy serving customers 24/7, you should consider sticking to that core competency, and bringing in a web pro. This can save time and improve your finished site. For instance, it s important to consider the mobile device user. Smart phones and tablets are becoming increasingly integral to peoples lives, and decision-making processes as consumers. A professional web designer can create an easilycustomizable website which detects whether the viewer is using a phone, a tablet, or a Mac or PC with a full-size screen, and delivers a version of your website optimized appropriately. This ability to customize and control a website exactly as you like, is the biggest advantage of working with a pro. The downside, of course, is cost. If you have a trusted, tech-savvy employee, they may be able to save you thousands by designing your site with an inexpensive on-line service. Now then, what to put on your site? Your hours of operation, service area, and contact info are givens. Perhaps you ll include testimonials, tips & tricks for pest management, a photo of the softball team you sponsor that s all good! If you are willing and able, including a blog with timely tips, or just your musings about local pest management concerns, will help keep your page fresh. Wordpress.com is an excellent source for blogging tools both for the DIYer, and pros. Another excellent thing to include on your website is links reflecting your membership in professional/trade organizations (like GCPMA), relevant certifications, affiliation with local Chambers of Commerce, and your BBB rating, even your D&B listing. These things won t bring prospects to your door, per se, so much as they will assure prospects who research your company that you aren t a fly-by-night operation. Also, you can link to these resources, and will likely gain a reciprocal link. This means higher rankings, as the algorithms search engines artificial intelligence use more greatly respect and raise the profile of pages which are linked-to by high-profile/reputable websites. Something that will help attract visitors is fine-tuning your site to match the highest number of relevant searches, a process known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is a complex topic in itself, but at minimum your website should have a small set of invisible, embedded keywords and descriptions tailored for search engines. These are known as meta-tags. Embedded keyword meta-tags should include any words that you think your prospects are using to search the web, and which you explicitly wish to have associated with your webpage. Another aspect of website SEO is the inclusion of a site map. I recommend you ask your web professional about SEO, or be prepared to do a lot of homework on your own. Anyway, there s a lot you can put up there on your fledgling website but rest assured, just owning your own website, with a unique Top-Level Domain name, will immediately help your cause by acting as a sort of hub. Whenever you are mentioned in a local on-line publication, or listed in a nascent web index, this effectively creates a link to your website. Many premium Yellow Pages services will create free entries for you, hoping to upsell you later. No problem! (Just stick with the free listing.) Best of all, if you have a commercially listed landline with the phone company, Google will know about it, and automatically produce a Google Local listing! This is one free service every small business should not neglect. Your webpage will be linked-to and listed along with your contact info and hours of operation. Google has a protocol for establishing you are the owner of the business in question, by phone or postcard, free of charge. Bing has a free listing service similar to Google Local, so just search for your listed business name and follow the procedure for identifying the business in question as your own. 10 GCPMA 2014 Fall Edition The Alliance Quarterly gcpma.com

11 SOCIAL MEDIA WHAT S THE BUZZ? Though Facebook was founded just 10 years ago, it has had a profound impact on the way individuals communicate, personally and professionally. If your company creates a post a person likes on Facebook, especially if they comment on it, their Facebook friends will automatically catch wind of this via their feed. This is a powerful tool for reaching new prospects one which makes posting videos of that new mascot dancing, or that wild office Christmas party footage, all the more worthwhile. You can post videos for free on You Tube, and even embed them within your site with a little help. Who knows, the video could go viral, and earn your business lots of publicity! Similarly, you can post your insights about pest management (or life in general) to Twitter, and post interesting or unusual pest-related photos on Instagram or Pinterest. And speaking of public buzz no article with advice for OMGs running small, local businesses would be complete without a mention of Yelp. Yelp is an incredibly popular site, which helps consumers find local businesses based on their peers reviews. Yelp, like Google Local, offers free listings to all businesses! They also sell ads, but the free listings are all you really need. Users will be able to post reviews of your company, good and bad. Positive reviews are good as gold, and bad reviews can be the kiss of death for any business so, if your customer service has been a little lacking, now s the time to ensure you have procedures in place for addressing customer concerns and keeping those reviews mostly positive. If negative reviews arise, you are permitted to post a public response and/or to communicate privately with the reviewer to resolve their concerns. It s clear that on-line advertising is here to stay, and its reach is growing all the time. To augment traditional notions of advertising, social media activity helps keep your website at the top of the list, and keeps your business top-of-mind with customers and that s what marketing is all about. By strategically allocating your digital elbow grease and cash resources, you can inexpensively lay the groundwork for an on-line marketing presence, and expand on this as your time and budget permit. Daniel Lillian is a consultant, graphic designer and web developer based in Evanston, IL. For more information about on-line marketing, direct mail, imprinted promotions, print advertising and collateral, logo or signage-related design services, please contact daniel@danielgraphics.com or call Judge Approves $2.45 Million Bed Bug Settlement FROM PCT ONLINE (6/6/14) APolk County District Court judge Wednesday approved a $2.45 million class-action settlement against the operators of two downtown Des Moines apartment towers whose low-income and disabled residents endured an infestation of bed bugs, the Des Moines Register reported. The settlement's approval marked the final chapter of a legal battle for about 225 people who live or once lived at Elsie Mason Manor and Ligutti Tower. Polk County District Judge Robert Blink on Wednesday approved the settlement between the class-action group and First Baptist Elderly Housing Foundation, First Baptist Housing Foundation and American Baptist Homes of the Midwest. Read the entire Des Moines Register article at bedbugs-settlement-des-moines-downtown-apartmenttowers-ligutti-elsie-mason-manor-polk-judge-classaction/ / gcpma.com The Alliance Quarterly 2014 Fall Edition GCPMA 11

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13 PEST MANAGEMENT SUPPLY P has proudly served pest management professionals in the Midwest for better than 25 years. NEW Convenient South Loop Location: S. Wabash Ave. Chicago, Illinois Call or us today! sales@pestmanagementsupply.com Chicago: Them Biting Gnats! Bill Dyra, Univar Usa You may have noticed almost all summer long in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin that a few flying insects are a complete nuisance. Many people and PCO's have been asking about the small, black biting insects. These insects are called Buffalo gnats or Black flies. Buffalo gnats are small 1/16 to 1/8 inch long and almost all are humpbacked black flies. They irritate and will bite exposed skin, usually leaving a small red welt. There mainly a major nuisance to people but when they are numerous in numbers their toxins can kill poultry and birds. They mainly feed on thinly haired areas of dogs, horses and cattle, near the ears and undersides. According to our Extension Entomologist in Ill. Buffalo gnat species live as larvae in clear, fast moving streams and rivers and feed by filtering food from the water. This adult fly species can migrate 7 to 15 miles from their source, but most people are irritated by these flies within a half a mile of the stream or river. There are also many reports that DEET which is contained in many insect repellents is not very effective. It is recommended that in areas of high populations of Buffalo gnats people use head nets, hats with protective insect netting that cover the head down to the shoulders. I have also heard that small amounts of Absorbine Jr. also is effective when dabbing on to your ears and neck area. You can purchase the protective gear at most sporting goods stores. Unlike mosquitoes, Buffalo gnats do not usually bite though clothing so only exposed skin is usually effected. There is much conversation that says these tiny irritating insects maybe with us though the end of summer and into the fall season. Almost anyone outdoors this year are going to notice these insects, especially when gardening, fishing, watering your flowers, or just taking a stroll almost any time of the day. It seems to me that sitting near a bonfire that is giving off some smoke or when the wind is blowing a little stronger during the morning or evening that these insects seem to be less in numbers, but not completely gone from the area you will be sitting. Controlling these insects though the use of repellents and protective clothing is really the best option for Buffalo gnat control. The Extension Service says that trying to control larvae and the adults though the use of pesticides is not a good idea and not even feasible. Upcoming Events P R E S E N T E D B Y T H E G C P M A IDPH CERTIFICATION TESTING October 27, 2014 Tinley Park Convention Center 6 HOUR RE-CERTIFICATION SEMINAR: MEETING OF THE MINDS October 28, 2014 Tinley Park Convention Center gcpma.com The Alliance Quarterly 2014 Fall Edition GCPMA 13

14 14 GCPMA 2014 Fall Edition The Alliance Quarterly gcpma.com GCPMA Member Directory For contact info see gcpma.com Bill & Dorothy Ballydine Honorary Lifetime Member Charlie O'Hara Sr Honorary Lifetime Member Pat Hughes Honorary Lifetime Member Jim Anderson Honorary Lifetime Member Jim Parker Honorary Lifetime Member Judy & Bob Dold Honorary Lifetime Member Dick Jennings Honorary Lifetime Member Gary Pietrucha Honorary Lifetime Member Clifton McKeethern A Affordable & Sons Kurt Spurgeon A Complete Pest Solution, LLC Rick Ludwig A Safe Haven Pest Control Cliff Duple A.G.A.D. Pest Control, Inc. Shawn O'Hara A-1 Pest Control Russell & Patricia DeValois AAA Pest Control, Inc. Cheri Ring A-Action Pest Control Inc Roy Rupert A-Affordable Pest Control Eugene Hutchinson A-Allpest Exterminating Co. Laurie Avenarius Aaren Pest Control Mark Winston ABC Conquest Pest Solutions Vito Brancato ABC Humane Wildlife Control Shari Franckawiak ABG Pest Control Service Melvin Cooper Abraham Pest Management Angel Garcia Accurate Pest & Animal Control Rosanna Castellanos Action 1 Pest Specialist Corporation John Anderson Advanced Exterminator Bryan Nichols Advanced Maintenance and Pest Solutions, LLC Richard Kirshner Aerex Pest Control David Bowles Albert's Argon Termite & Pest Control Alex Onate Alex Environmental Control Mary Lara All Pests Controlled, Inc. Mark Colletti All Suburban Pest Control Dan Wondaal Allied Cleaning Services James Pinckard Alpha Pest Control Charles Westbrooks Alpha West Pest Control Jane Peifer Ampest Exterminating & Wildlife Control Ralph Russo An Ounce Of Prevention Mark O'Hara Anderson Pest Solutions Andre Mata Andre Pest Management John Hagan Animal Control Specialists, Inc Eustorgio Valdez Anti-Pest Chicagoland, LLC Louie Johns Ant's Exterminating & Pest Control Services Robert Fitzpatrick APEX Pest Control Rick Moskovitz A-Plus Pest Control Eric Ruesken ARAB Termite & Pest Control Jim Durkin ARC Professional Exterminating Lisa Stuart A-Rid-A-Pest Exterminating Douglas Blume Arrow Pest Control, Inc. Thomas Barlow Assured Pest Control, Inc. Adolph Gunther ATG Pest Control, LLC Joe Chiero AWESOME Pest Control Buster and Irene Fisher B & I Pest Control Vernon Toney B.K. Home Pest Control Babylon Kountz B.K. Pest Control Steven Warren Barrington Exterminating Co. Linda DeVelasco Bed Bug Solutions, Inc. Charles Berry Berry & Sons Exterminating, Inc. Nancy Grunstad & Ronald Binion...BG's Bug Git-ers LLC Lesley Glowacz BPG Phil Bradley Bradley Pest Control Billy Longmire Bug Doctor Pest Services John McGlaun Bug Masters Pest Control, Inc. John Slavin Bugs Anonymous, Inc. Barry Foley Bull's-Eye, Inc. Cindy McFadden Burgo Pest Control Inc. Brian Mitchell Burr Pest Control Peter Flatsoussis Busy Bee Pest Control Thomas J. Carrano, Jr C&C Pest Control Julio Marshall C&M Pest Management Co. Carla Wagner Canine Detection & Inspection Svc. LLC Jennifer Waldrep Central Pest Exterminators Martin Chapulin Pest Control David Oeters Chem-Wise Pest Management Kevin McClernon Chem-Wise Pest Management Rick Ardema Chicagoland Pest Service, Inc. William Johnson, Jr Concern Pest Control Ronald Cooper Cooper's Pest Control Brad Reiter Critter Control Teaford Holland Critter Getters, Inc. Dennis Funk Critter Ridder, Inc. Michael Bohlen E&M Pest Management Kevin Floyd Earth Pest Control Co. Dimitri Stavropoulos Eco Tech Pest Control Keith Benson EcoLab Dwayne Estes Economy Pest Control Edgar Coy Elco Pest Control Michael Elmore Elmo's Pest Control Mike Racanelli Ento Pest Control, Inc. Gary Shere Entomological Technologies James Shermulis Enviro Pest Control Herbert Wilkerson Environmental Maintenance Services, Inc. Dick Shore Enviro-Pro Professional Pest Management, Inc. Gary Pietrucha Envirosafe Pest Management, Inc. Marty Germann First Illinois Systems, Inc. Charles Fuller Fox Valley Exterminating Wayne Magnuson Franklin Pest Solutions Lindsay Keller Fumigation Services and Supply Inc. Fabian Polania Fumimex, Inc. Daniel Gavin Gavin Pest Control, Inc. Janice Jarocha General Mills Mark Hendricks General Pest Environmental Solutions, Inc. Elia Levin Gold Seal Terminte and Pest Control Company Cesar Lazala Goldstar Pest Control, Corp. Bernie Gorak, II Gorak's Pest Control Victor Kuspa Great Lakes Pest Solutions Douglas Hamel Greathouse Pest Control Matt Scheffler Guaranteed Pest Control Pat Angotti Guardian Pest Control David Haertling Haertling Exterminating Hammond Pest Control, Inc. Robin Stewart Hansen Service Robert Harris Harris Janitorial & Pest Control Lewis Board House Specialty Pest Control Michael VanOver Hurricane Exterminators Cliff Duple Illinois Bed Bug Dog Robert Raulie Industrial Fumigant Co. Patrick McDaniel International Exterminators Company, Inc. Alvin E. Stewart Jakks Pest Control Solutions, Inc. Herman James James Pest Control, Inc. Steven Pearlman Jetter Services, LLC Jeffrey Siegel JSS Consulting, Ltd. Keith Chiero K.C. Pest Control Raymond Nauman Kendrick Pest Control, Inc. Ken Staven Ken's Pest Control Giyu Hygon Kim Kim's Pest Control Manuel Abon Kleen Bug Services Ken Cote KnK American Pest Control Gary G. Koesler Koesler's Exterminating Lance Aarstad Lance Pest Solutions Dale Fietzek Leonard's Termite Control Tywian Lett Lett Us Pest Control Company Percy Allen, Jr M.E.P. Exterminating Mary Voss Maintenance Management Kevin Connelly MASH Services of Illinois, Inc. Lance Bodily MasterGuard Pest Control Chris McCloud McCloud Services Jason Gibbons Men in Black Pest Control Services, Inc. Drake Schopen Mid Central Pest Control Mike J. Savage MJS Inspections, Inc. Kelly Tichacek Monroe Pest Control Co., Inc. Thaddeus Mazuchowski Nevernest Pest Control Henry Hammerstein Nix Pest Control Robert J. Barushok North Shore Pest Control Peter S. Poteres Optimum Nutrition Frank Grupp Orkin Commercial Service - Chicago Gary Ross Orkin Commercial Service Des Plaines Dave Williams Orkin Commercial Service Naperville Donna Williamson Orkin Pest Control - Broadview Riley Mallett Orkin Pest Control - Kankakee Don Kaufman Orkin Pest Control - Northeast Chicago Daniel Ferretti Orkin Pest Control - Plainfield Charles Alvarado Personalized Pest Control Armando Martinez Pest Control Chicagoland, Inc. Don Resetar Pest Control Services, Inc. Charles Petty Petty's Exterminating Co. Michael Panichi Platinum Pest Solutions, Inc Pointe Pest Control Leo Wilkosz Preferred Pest Control, Inc. David Bohannan Prep X Don Enders Presto-X, LLC Karl Hitzeman Private Exterminator Ryan Hobbs ProActive Pest Management Rick Freye Professional Pest Control Rich Belka Pure Tech Pest Control Services, Inc. Bill Achramowicz Pursuit Pest Control Robert Schmudde Quick Clean Pest Control, Inc. Mark Payne Quick Kill Exterminating Tim Baietto Quik Kill Pest Eliminators, Inc. George Lemieux Red Raspberries Pest Solutions Cottrell Richmond Richmond & Sons, Inc. Steve Bisaillon Rid-All Pest Solutions Tim Campbell River Valley Pest Management Angel Rodriguez Rodriguez Exterminating Jeff Beallis Rose Pest Solutions Mike O'Conner Rose Pest Solutions Robert Dold Rose Pest Solutions Roy Cantu Roy's Pest Control Kim Barrie RRB Pest Control Jon Sarac Sarac Pest Control, Inc. Pete Schopen, Jr Schopen Pest Solutions, Inc. John Hockenyos Sentinel Insect Control Laboratory Dave Shabat Sentry Pest Control, Inc. Mark Siepka Shepp Pest Control John Gurekovich Skyline Services David Harris-John Smithereen Pest Management Niles Dennis Del Valle Smithereen Pest Management Midlothian Andy Novinger Smithereen Pest Management - Northlake Greg Strohl Smithereen Pest Management Chicago Paul Boley Sosnoski Exterminating, Inc. Michael Vanucci Southwest Exterminators Bob Lasocki Southwest Pest Control Services, Co Henry Caston, Sr Southwest Pest Control, Co. Curt Anderson Steritech David Lenihan Stickney Pest Control Anthony Callendo Suburban Exterminators, Inc. Mark Geary Superior Lawns, Inc. Frank Cale Sureway Pest Control Valerie Slayton Sutherland Pest Control Terry Schroedle, Sr T.N.T. Exterminators Steven Kuhse Terminix International CO Alan Reynolds Terminix International CO Dorrell Sicurella The Bug Man, Inc. Paul Thomas Thomas Pest Specialist, Inc. Nick Risa Trapper Nicks Wildlife Control Marc Visocnik Turf Care Enterprises Anthony Zangler TZR, Inc. Gary Reed U.S. Pest Control Keith Baricovich Up North Services, Inc. Vernon Luebke Vern Luebke's Pest Control Shane McCoy Wil-Kil Pest Control Carlos Gallegos General Member Tim Coughlin General Member Ralph Lopez General Member Michael Boyle General Member James Howe General Member Ronald J. Honcharevich General Member

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